Corridor “J” Resource Team Moving Forward

Nashville, Tennessee - Members of the Citizens Corridor J Resource Team are moving forward with their duties related to the Corridor J project. The Resource team met Thursday along with officials from the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Appalachian Regional Council and a group of engineering consultants to begin the Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS) process on that project. The Resource Team is charged with making recommendations concerning the location and design of Corridor J, formerly called State Route 451.

“For the first time in the history of the project, a team of citizens came together to seek a common goal – the completion of the Appalachian Corridor J Route,” explained Ed Cole, TDOT Chief of Environment and Planning. “This process gives the middle Tennessee area ownership of the project; a direct voice in the planning and design of the corridor.”

TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely announced October 24, 2003, that the TDOT was committed to using CSS in developing Corridor J. “Context Sensitive Solutions is an approach that involves all stakeholders to develop a transportation facility that fits its physical setting, and preserves scenic, aesthetic, historical and environmental resources, while maintaining safety and mobility,” said Nicely. “It is a process that is based heavily on input from the public, the people who pay for the project and who will use it.”

Citizens representing six counties and seven cities will focus on the completion of the Appalachian Route J, which runs from Chattanooga to the Kentucky State Line. Throughout the development process, the project will be coordinated with local and state officials, the Federal Highway Administration and state and federal resource agencies.

The Corridor J Resource Team members are:

The department will update the public through the Resource Team, the TDOT web site and newsletters.